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It means that Prokhorov has made an arrangement with the Kremlin. He will be a sparring partner for Putin. His task will be to attract the protest votes of the middle class and intellectuals, who would otherwise have gone to the leader of the Communist Party, Gennady Zyuganov.

But he sees an opening for "gambler" Prokhorov:

Now the gambler enters the political arena to play along with Putin. But as soon as possible, he will play his own game.

In any case, even if Prokhorov does not have a chance and Putin wins, it will be another Putin. Not the Putin apathetically supported by 70% of the population. A Putin who barely won the election, a Putin who must fend off a rival billionaire, a Putin who on the squares of Moscow will face hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, of protesters.